I am not so familiar with the technical details about this drivechains thing but one thing for sure is that it is all about how the market can be behaving. The main reason we have altcoins is the fact that there seems to be a critical mass of people who are patronizing them and although others can be calling them as just scams or making money out of thin air but still if there are buyers/holders/users then an altcoin can go on to exist...much more if there is a solid community behind the coin.
Time will tell how this new development can affect the market as no one can really precisely predict what can happen months from now. The market can be acting the way we don't want too or in an unexpected way and sometimes irrationally reflective of our human nature which can be basing on irrational ideas and convictions.
All I hope is that this development can be for the good of all of us and not just for a group of people who are also promoting their own interests.
Topic: [2017-07-12] Bitcoin Magazine - Drivechains Could Kill Off the Altcoin Market (Read 3847 times)
July 12, 2017, 10:47:50 PM
July 12, 2017, 09:28:34 PM
I think also that the article is more an "expression of wishes" of a Bitcoin hodler & maximalist, but I considered it interesting for discussion. Mostly the article doesn't take into account that speculation is actually the most important use case for altcoins.
But I think drivechains could have an impact on some altcoins whose "unique selling proposition" is tied to a certain feature that is replicable on a Bitcoin sidechain. That's why RSK, once it is totally decentralized, could "steal" some serious market share on the "smart contract market" from Ethereum.
Other altcoins, like those that use "energy-efficient" consensus methods like Proof of Stake or Proof of Burn - if they prove to be long-term viable - would not be that much affected, as the Bitcoin main chain still would use the energy-consuming Proof of Work. Other altcoins that wouldn't be affected are those that provide on-chain scalability with innovative methods like Child Chains or DAGs. "On-chain" transactions very probably would be considered superior than "sidechain" transactions, so these coins would have an advantage over Bitcoin and could use that for speculation.
Overall, drivechains are an extreme interesting technology - and I think if they work as expected, they will be a nice "second layer" between the mainchain and LN/off-chain methods.
But I think drivechains could have an impact on some altcoins whose "unique selling proposition" is tied to a certain feature that is replicable on a Bitcoin sidechain. That's why RSK, once it is totally decentralized, could "steal" some serious market share on the "smart contract market" from Ethereum.
Other altcoins, like those that use "energy-efficient" consensus methods like Proof of Stake or Proof of Burn - if they prove to be long-term viable - would not be that much affected, as the Bitcoin main chain still would use the energy-consuming Proof of Work. Other altcoins that wouldn't be affected are those that provide on-chain scalability with innovative methods like Child Chains or DAGs. "On-chain" transactions very probably would be considered superior than "sidechain" transactions, so these coins would have an advantage over Bitcoin and could use that for speculation.
Overall, drivechains are an extreme interesting technology - and I think if they work as expected, they will be a nice "second layer" between the mainchain and LN/off-chain methods.
July 12, 2017, 08:58:48 PM
No it will not. There is a good reason why the altcoin market grew and is expanding today with the market participants knowing that what they are trading are scams or questionable assets. Technology alone will not solve human greed and the need to gamble.
July 12, 2017, 07:40:45 PM
Sidechains have been viewed as Bitcoin’s way of dealing the altcoin market since 2014, when a proposal for a two-way peg between two different blockchains was first proposed in a public setting. Three years later, it appears that drivechains, which are a specific way of implementing sidechains, will be the way in which extensions for Bitcoin are rolled out.
[...]
While drivechains are likely to drive out the need for altcoins, it’s still possible that alternative digital assets that are not attempts at creating a new form of money will exist.
[...]
To me, it’s unclear how often these sorts of new tokens will be needed, but there should be no reason for competitors to bitcoin as a form of digital money to exist.
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/op-ed-drivechains-could-kill-altcoin-market/
[...]
While drivechains are likely to drive out the need for altcoins, it’s still possible that alternative digital assets that are not attempts at creating a new form of money will exist.
[...]
To me, it’s unclear how often these sorts of new tokens will be needed, but there should be no reason for competitors to bitcoin as a form of digital money to exist.
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/op-ed-drivechains-could-kill-altcoin-market/
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